Nordic Dog Symposium 2017
Dog lovers in motion
Trotting skeletons, sniffing strings, rotatory characters, a schnuffelgarten and plenty of laughs were on the menu
for dog lovers at this year’s Symposium. Not to mention the excellent food, helpful staff and great company. Turid
again had an extraordinary lineup of speakers with lots of knowledge to impart. This one will be hard to beat!
Join us again next year at Olavsgaard (the hotel with the
icecream and popcorn in the conference lobby) for another
unforgettable experience!
Dog Symposium 2018
3-4 March
PART 1
This year’s report is in two parts. Part 2 (Martin Fischer and
Daniel Mills) is pending approval by the speakers and should
be ready by the middle of May.
1
What it is like
to be a dog
Alexandra Horowitz, USA
Adjunct Associate Professor
Alexandra Horowitz has been teaching psychology at Barnard College, Columbia University, since
2004. She is currently testing the olfactory experience of the domestic dog through experiments
in natural settings. She is very keen on trying to
understand what it might be like to be a dog—the dog’s point of view, as it were. To do that, one has to have a handle on the
dogs’ cognitive abilities and perceptual experiences. Since dogs are primarily olfactory creatures, this means understanding
the world writ in scents. Before her scientific career, Alexandra worked as a lexicographer at Merrian-Webster and served
on the staff of The New Yorker. She and her husband live in New York City with Finnegan, “a dog of indeterminate parentage
and determinate character.”
Alexandra started with a brief history of how comparative
cognition has developed over the past 20 years. When she
started her graduate work, nobody was uttering the term
comparative cognition. Dogs were not particularly interesting as a subject of study then, either. Scientists were more
interested in looking at animals that were more like us—
such as primates—or more exotic. Today, this has changed.
Dogs are the subject of much scientific scrutiny.
that people think show proud dogs, but is the head raised
for other reasons, like carrying a stick that is too big or averting the gaze from the camera? And are pictures of dogs that
are apparently happy actually showing them yawning at the
camera, or doing something else?
Morris et al. determined some years ago that owners were
happily attributing embarrassment, disgust, grief/mourning,
sense of shame, pride, empathy, guilt and jealousy to their
dogs. An amazing 81% felt that their dog experienced jealousy. Primary emotions like happiness and anger are neurally similar for many mammals, and few of us dispute those.
But secondary emotions are interesting, because they reflect
a higher cognitive capacity or a culture that defines these
terms.
However, most comparative cognition research is about
asking whether dogs show the same behaviours as human
infants and adults. We somehow feel we know what is on a
dog’s mind—what they want and what they feel. We even
dress them up in human clothes. Alexandra’s approach is to
try to find out what is really going on in the dog’s mind, from
the dog’s point of view.
Barney and the teddy-bear carnage
Alex got interested in the
concept of dog guilt because
of Barney, a Doberman
that had been given the
unfortunate task of guarding a priceless collection of
teddy-bears, including one
that had belonged to Elvis
Presley. In the morning,
they found heads pulled off,
arms, limbs, fluff and bear
parts everywhere and total
carnage. People seeing the
picture of Barney said he
looked so sorry, he shouldn’t
be punished.
Evolutionary history in art
Alexandra gave us a fascinating look at how our perception
of dogs, and their place in our society, has changed through
the centuries as expressed in art.
In ancient tapestries, we generally see dogs accompanying humans in their tasks. They are usually working dogs,
such as hunting dogs or guard dogs, and they are somewhere at the side of the scene. But something interesting
happens around 1500, where the dog starts moving into our
portraits, first at the side, and gradually into the lap. Today
dogs are often at the centre of the scene, or the subject of
the portrait itself, with no human present. It even includes
amusing portrayals of dogs, like a cartoon we were shown of
dogs playing cards—and cheating!
Attribution of secondary emotions
Disambiguating the “guilty look”
Alex showed us several pictures from Flickr, which people
think show sad dogs. There is something sad in their demeanour, but is that only our interpretation, or are they simply
resting their heads on the floor? She showed other pictures
Was Barney really feeling guilty, or was he averting his gaze
and reacting to the shock of people around him? Alex took
us through an experiment she had designed in order to tell
the difference.
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Inequity aversion means, for example, that if two people are doing the
same job and one is paid more than
the other, the one who is paid more
doesn’t really like it and comes up
with an explanation to make it fair. For
example, “I’m better at the job; that’s
why I get paid more.” The person being
paid less doesn’t like it either, so they
change their behaviour to make it fair.
They may start working less hard.
Alex took us through an experiment
where both subject and control
dogs were asked to sit on command,
then rewarded with one, more or no
treats—so-called “fair” and “unfair”
trainers. The subjects chose randomly between those with treats. No dog,
upon being fed, asks whether we have
fed the cat as well! They just consume
what they’ve been given. It is less a
concern with fairness and being jealous
than with who has all the resources.
Does anthropomorphism
matter?
When the projector broke down, Alexandra wondered whether she would physically
have to illustrate how a dog does its business.
The subjects were dogs in their own
homes, and the experiment was done
by the owner. The owner asked the dog
to sit, placed a special treat on the floor,
and told the dog not to eat it. Then
they left the room. One of two things
could happen: either the dog refrained
from eating the treat, or he ate it.
Upon returning, the owner was told
that either the dog had eaten the treat
(upon which the owner gently “scolded” the dog), or had left it untouched
(in which case the owner greeted the
dog normally). But in some cases, the
owner was told that the dog had eaten
the treat when he hadn’t, or vice versa.
The dogs only looked “guilty” when
scolded by the owner, regardless of
whether he had eaten the treat or
not. However, they tended to look
even “guiltier” when innocent! People
interpret their dog as being “guilty”
when the dog averts his gaze, rolls
over, lifts a paw, drops his tail, gives a
low wag, retreats, has his ears and/or
head down, and/or gives flicks of the
tongue. All of which, as Turid pointed
out, are calming signals, or appeasement behaviour.
There were a couple of other interesting
features as well. Dogs that had been in
obedience classes also looked guiltier.
Obedience classes might be a context
where they learn these behaviours as a
response to owners.
This study was replicated by a group in
Hungary, with an interesting difference.
The owners were asked, before entering the room, to guess whether their
dog had eaten the treat. Many owners
believe that their dog feels guilt no
matter what studies say, because their
dog looks guilty when they get home,
even before they see the damage. So, in
this replication, the owner was asked,
based on looking at the dog, “Is your
dog guilty? Has he eaten the treat?”
Not surprisingly, the owners got it right
exactly 50% of the time.
Some degree of anthropomorphism is,
to some extent, a part of everyday life.
But carried too far it can have extraordinary results, as well as being dangerous. If we assume that dogs understand
right and wrong in the same way we do,
we start treating them as real members
of our society—with all the responsibility that entails. In the Middle Ages,
right up through the 18th century, it
was not uncommon for animals to be
put on trial for perceived crimes against
humans, like theft or murder. There
would be a lawyer, the case would be
presented before a judge, who would
rely on precedent and issue a verdict,
which in most cases was guilty. Then
the animal would be executed in a
public demonstration. In the US, the
first demonstration of electrocution on
a grand scale was a hundred years ago
in the US, of an elephant who had killed
her three abusive trainers.
Owners’ feelings that their dogs experience jealousy is rooted in them thinking that a dog finds a certain situation
to be unfair.
So the first thing we have to do is
unpack for owners their natural inclination to make these attributions to dogs.
Again, it is quite natural to anthropomorphise; we have been doing it since
time immemorial. Although we should
respect that tendency, we should
examine it and unpack the behaviours.
There is a well-developed way of testing this, called inequity aversion tests.
At the turn of the 20th Century, Jakob
von Uexküll wrote a book called
What about jealousy?
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A stroll through the world of man
and animals (Streifzüge durch die
Umwelten von Tieren und Menschen),
in which he advocated a description of
the animal’s world from the animal’s
point of view, looking at things that are
salient and reasonable for the animal.
He called this the Umwelt—and used
it in the sense of the self-world of
the animal, the bubble in which that
animal lives. It is important to define
that world not by what someone else
assumes they are perceiving, but by
what that organism can perceive, what
their senses allow them to perceive
about the world.
were just a couple of examples that we
looked at.
Cortical magnification
Another way to look at an animal’s
Umwelt is to see the commitment of
the brain to certain areas of the body,
then redraw it accordingly. This is called
cortical magnification. The figure above
shows what that would look like in a
certain type of mole.
The raccoon and the piggybank
– Marian & Keller Breland
The Umwelt
Alex showed us a picture of a 19th-century German city room as drawn by
von Uexküll, with the Umwelt of a fly in
mind. The room highlighted the objects
that would be relevant to the fly, like
a lamp (warmth and light) and bits of
food on the table and floor. Drawing
this again for a dog, the highlighted
areas were the sofa and chairs, where
the dog might lie, food scraps on the
floor, and some scents along the wall—
things that have relevance to the dog,
that it can interact with. Neither of
these creatures will perceive the room
in the same way we do.
A tick, for example, has a totally different Umwelt to either us or the dog. It
certainly has no sense of guilt or pride.
Ticks are blind and only “see” through
photoreceptors on their skin, which
allow them to sense warmth. They can
only smell particular odours, like butyric acid which a component of human
sweat. They can be dormant for 18
years, but when they sense the nearness of a potential host, they drop.
Bats have an umwelt based on ultrasound and echolocation. Their prey, the
noctuid moth, has evolved to detect
sounds on that same frequency, to give
them a better chance of survival. These
Psychologists Marian and Keller
Breland trained animals, mostly for
Hollywood, and wrote a paper called
The misbehaviour of animals, in which
they described the behaviour of a
raccoon that they had difficulty training. They had successfully trained a pig
to drop a coin into a piggybank, but
when they tried it with raccoons, they
failed. They would get the raccoon to
the point where it almost put the coin
in the piggy bank, but it would snatch
the coin back and refuse to let go. The
more they tried, the worse it got. The
raccoons were frantically rubbing the
coins between their paws. The Brelands
finally gave up. However, if we look at
the natural behaviour of raccoons, we
understand why. Raccoons often hold
small prey or food items in their hands
and wash them, and use this method
to rub off the shells of crustaceans. It
is their natural behaviour. If we want
to train a raccoon to do a trick like this,
we have to use that natural behaviour
instead of trying to work against it. That
didn’t work for the Brelands.
Looking at it from a different
perspective
It is not only other species that have
a different Umwelt; other people may
have a different view as well. Alex
ended the session by telling us about a
friend who took his 6-year-old son to an
art museum and couldn’t understand
4
why he showed zero appreciation for
the paintings. Until he got down to the
little boy’s level and saw that the frame
was reflecting the windows and other
objects in the room, and obscuring the
picture itself. Also, the dimensions of
the picture were totally different from
the level of a six-year-old child.
The dog as an olfactory
animal
Alex spent some time looking at
the dog as an olfactory animal. She
reviewed how the dog orients itself
with the passage of time since a scent
was deposited. When a dog leaves the
house and smells into the breeze, he
may smell something that just passed,
that we never saw. And he might be
sensing something that visually has
not happened for us yet, like a person
around the corner. A dog’s moment
in time is rubber-banded by smell, by
something that happened in the past
and things that are going to happen in
the future.
Alex showed us a nice picture from
National Geographic of a dog tracking a
partridge. The zigzag pattern left by the
dog was very clear, and showed how
the odour was working. The dog moved
until the odour concentration diminished, then moved back until it got
stronger again. This sense of the position and time of scents is what allows
dogs to do e.g. search and rescue.
Dogs can also be trained to detect
cancer, or bedbugs, or termite infestations. They can help researchers
canvass the size of populations through
droppings, or find cadavers even underwater. One dog has been trained to
detect the scat (poop) of the Puget Bay
white whale, which floats on the water
for 30 minutes. The dog is able to point
about a nautical mile away, and direct
the boat through pointing with his nose
to the source of the scat.
Self-recognition?
Visual self-recognition
Do dogs recognise themselves in
the mirror, and do they notice if
there is something odd about their
appearance? Chimpanzees, magpies,
elephants and dolphins have all been
found to examine themselves in the
mirror and touch a spot on themselves
that is marked differently, much like we
do if we see a hair out of place or a stain
on our face. Dogs, however, do not do
this, because they are primarily olfactory animals. A mirror doesn’t smell.
Tests among dogs also show that they
are more interested in the urine from
unfamiliar dogs than they are in urine
from a known dog or other dog in the
household.
Quantitative
discrimination
Visual
If a dog is presented with three pieces
of a treat versus one, or two versus four,
can they tell the difference by looking?
It is no surprise to us that they do make
a visual discrimination, and choose the
larger quantity. But what if they can’t
see it?
Olfactory
Olfactory self-recognition
Alex described an experiment she
developed to try to understand whether
dogs recognise themselves through an
“olfactory mirror”. For that, she placed
urine, both from the test dog itself and
from other dogs, in small canisters. She
then measured how long they spent
at each canister, which made for some
very amusing video as all dogs behave
individually. Some spent considerable
time sniffing, others caught a whiff
and left immediately. Most were somewhere in between.
Alex described three scenarios where
they tried to ascertain the dog’s capacity to detect quantity by smell.
A. In one scenario, one treat was
placed under a plate and three
under another. The dogs were
allowed to sniff the plates before
they were put on the floor. They
were led off, then allowed to come
back and select between the plates.
They got a treat regardless of which
plate they chose. There were 69
dogs in the study.
The results showed that the dogs spent
significantly longer smelling the odour
of another dog than their own, which is
considered natural behaviour. We don’t
normally see dogs urinating, then going
back and spending a significant amount
of time investigating their own pee,
even if they come upon it again later.
But what about the olfactory version of
finding a stain on your face or a hair out
of place? What if a smell in your own
urine is “out of sorts?” In her experiment, Alex added a marker to the
dog’s urine, something just sufficient
to change the odour. With the 45 dogs
tested, the findings were significant.
Without any other contextual clues,
they were more interested in their own
odour when it was changed. The dogs
were also tested to see if just the mark
by itself (not in the urine) would be
interesting; it wasn’t. Thus, it was the
change in the smell of their own urine
that caught their attention.
B. In another scenario, the dog would
watch while the owner picked up
the plate with the smaller quantity
of food, sniffed it, said something
like, “Wow, what yummy food!” put
the plate down and walked away.
The dog could then choose which
plate to go to.
C. In the third scenario, three common
household ingredients were added
to the treats in very small quantities—vinegar, which is in manycleaning supplies, lavender spritz
shampoo, and a mint breath spray
—to see if this changed the dogs’
preference in any way.
5
Scenario A: Surprisingly, in the first
scenario (different amounts of treats
under plates, no comment from the
owner), the dogs made no distinction
between the plates with more or less
food under them. Surely, with those
hundreds of millions of receptors they
could detect the different between one
or three pieces of hotdog? Alex said that
this was a nice example of the experimenter (Alex) not taking the Umwelt
of the dog entirely into account. Upon
further investigation, they found that
the dog was making a discrimination,
when considering the amount of time
they sniffed each of the plates before
the plates were put on the floor. They
spent significantly longer sniffing the
large quantity. But by the time the
plates were put down, and the dog
was asked to make a choice, something had happened. Either they had
forgotten and didn’t make the connection, or they were confused about the
task, or something else had occurred.
This is good evidence that experimentalists have to be very straightforward
in experimental situations. They have
to be very careful what they convey to
the dog about what the task is. The task
may be obvious to the person (smell
different quantities and choose the
larger quantity), without being in the
least bit clear to the dog.
Scenario B: The dogs were split 50/50
among those that went for the plate
with the larger quantity of food, and
those that went for the plate that the
owner was enthusiastic over. They
could see the plates, but still, half of
them went to the plate with less food
but an enthusiastic owner. They essentially just wanted to go where the
owner directed them.
Scenario C: When the treats were
scented, most of the dogs chose the
smaller quantity. Thus these ordinary
household products changed the interest of the dog in a larger quantity of
food.
The experiments showed that pet dogs
are not using their noses to detect
quantity. They will follow their owner’s
choice even when they can see that the
treat is inferior.
So dogs in our home can smell, but
they are essentially losing their noses—
for the simple reason that we don’t let
them smell their world, because we are
not smelling it ourselves. Instead, they
follow us. We are more interested in
the visual world. People often call their
dogs away from sniffing each other.
Alex spent a few minutes looking at
how dogs sniff each other, and how
important nosework is for their wellbeing. She encouraged us to take our dogs
on “smell walks” and to try to smell
some of the things we see them sniffing at (even if this causes passers-by to
look somewhat bemused!).
by odour. It took a lot of training, but
the students were able to do it again
and again.
Alex got each person in the audience
to take an object from their pocket and
hold it for their neighbour to smell.
Can we track?
The neighbour had their eyes closed.
It made for some very interesting
comments from some in the room! She
then asked for a volunteer to come up
front, and after blindfolding the volunteer she put some chocolate-scented
twine on a table. Amid lots of laughs
around the room, the volunteer tried
tracking the twine along the table with
her nose. It was a very difficult task!
The volunteer afterwards said that she
did smell the twine, and that it was a
very strong smell, but it was hard to tell
when she was too far away, until there
was no scent at all.
Alex wrapped up her excellent presentation with a link to a short video that
she has done with a friend on how to
master our sense of smell, and she
encouraged us to take our dogs out into
the world of smell.
Everything we taste is based mostly
on our olfaction. Flavour is an olfaction. That is why, when we have a cold,
we can’t taste well. Alex described
an experiment where the researchers saturated a string with chocolate
essential oil and hid it in the grass. They
then put a blindfold, heavy mittens,
earmuffs and kneepads on volunteer
students, and asked them to navigate
http://ed.ted.com/lessons/howto-master-your-sense-of-smell-alexandra-horowitz
6
A doggy day care
Manja Leißner, Germany
Manja is a qualified dog psychologist from the renowned ATN Academy
of Veterinary Medicine in Germany, and a member of the PDTE. She is
the owner of the QimmiQ Lodge, which has run a day care for dogs since
2011 and offers dog walking services, boarding, 1:1 training, consultations and classes. Her unique concept of running a doggy day care
allows dogs to develop their senses and build friendships in a stress-free
environment.
Manja presented the doggie day care that she has run since
2011. She described the setting, the daily routine, how they
set up the stimulation/environment for the dogs, how they
put social groups together, and how they integrate a new
dog.
Definition
The QimmiQ day care is a short-term boarding kennel, with
many similarities to a regular daycare for children. It fills a
niche between a boarding kennel and pet sitting. There
are not many laws or guidelines for dog day care services
in Germany. Some communities do place restrictions, for
example, on the size of the lodging.
the other dogs in the group. This brings predictability and
stability to the group, and less stress for the dogs. The setup
enables them to build friendships within the group and focus
on the social environment.
Setting
The premises are divided into inside and outside areas.
The outside area provides lots of space and solid fencing
that dogs cannot jump over or dig under. There is plenty of
grass, and the surroundings are peaceful. There are different compartments, both inside and out, so that dogs can be
separated. The indoor area is heated and divided into open
cabins. The kitchen area is separate from the main area, to
prevent food guarding problems. In the indoor areas, dogs
can lie down at different levels off the floor. They have the
freedom to choose their own spots. The furniture is changed
around as well, offering the dogs new smells and textures.
Main goals
For Manja, the main goals include supervising dogs while
the owners are gone, providing a stressfree daily routine for
them while they are at the dog care, and to be a point of
contact between the owner and the dog. But the primary
goal is to let each dog be a dog.
How to make it work
It is not a drop-in day care, where owners can just come by
in the morning and drop off a dog with no advance planning. There is a clear weekly rhythm without any pressure;
the dogs normally meet once or twice a week and know
Daily routine
The daycare opens at 7 in the morning and closes at 7 in the
evening. Dogs arrive between 7 and 9 AM. They are discouraged from coming later, as the dogs are taken for walks
around nine, so there is plenty of time for rest afterwards.
The dogs need time to settle down, do their business and
meet other dogs before falling asleep.
Manja showed a video of dogs arriving. Each dog is given
plenty of time to sniff around before meeting the others.
Each dog is different, but they usually make it clear when
they are ready to meet the others. The atmosphere in the
video was lovely and calm.
Once all the dogs have arrived, they go on a walk. The main
reason is to change environments, and let the dogs explore
different areas. Sometimes there are interesting surprises,
like bales of hay in a field. They also visit a Schnuffelgarten, or
“scent garden” where dogs can be off leash. Sometimes they
7
even get to go to the pool! There can be
up to about 13 dogs on walk, depending on how individuals can handle it. If
a dog is not able to handle this sizeable
group, he is taken out separately. Dogs
that need to be on leash, like those
with a strong hunting behaviour, have a
5 m long lead, which allows them plenty of space to explore. We watched a
short video of dogs getting into the van
that is used for excursions, and they all
happily got on board and knew their
own place in the vehicle. It was nice
looking at the dogs interacting with
each other in different ways in a field
an on walks.
After the walk, the dogs come in again
and rest for about 3 hours. This resting period is very important to allow
the dogs to process all the information
and experiences they have had on their
walk. The dogs are allowed to choose
their own spot, and change places and
position as much as they like. Most
importantly, they are able to stretch
out fully. Because dogs are social sleepers, they tend to stick with their friends
in a cabin. The surroundings have to
be kept calm, so no other people are
allowed in during this time apart from
those dealing with the dogs. If people
are allowed in, it puts the dogs in a restless situation and they are not able to
sleep. If they are stressed in the afternoon, they will probably be less social.
Indoors, there is gentle background
music to help the dogs relax. Dogs are
also provided with something to chew,
because a hungry dog will not fall
asleep. Manja gave us a quick review
of the autonomic nervous system to
explain why this is important, and how
it helps the dogs fall asleep. A video
of the dogs returning from their walk
showed how satisfied they look, and
how they select their places. The indoor
area is heated to around 22-24°C.
Around 2 PM, the dogs are let out and
spend time together in the outdoor
area. They stay outside with the trainers for about 90 minutes. They have
the freedom to enjoy the surroundings
calmly, or to play if they wish.
The dogs are usually picked up between
5 and 7 PM. The transfer occurs individually, to prevent problems. Each dog
is able to meet his owner alone, and
the owner has a chance to discuss the
dog’s day with the trainer.
Stimulation/environment
It is important for dogs to use all their
different senses. They have the possibility to explore at their own speed,
without any pressure. They are presented with different stimuli, like various
objects, materials, types of ground, and
a whole range of smells. The trainer
also makes a point of identifying which
senses the dog is possibly using less,
and tries to encourage those.
We saw photographs of dogs digging,
exploring tires, sniffing concrete blocks,
wood piles, other piles of natural materials, and objects that have been placed
around the field. Snowbanks also make
a fun place to be in winter.
Each owner donates dirty socks to this
piece of fine art—the smellier the better!
Owners donate boxes, socks, and other
objects for nosework. When the dogs
are given boxes, they are kept apart,
each with their own “project”. When
they are done, the dogs change around
and explore each other’s boxes.
Sometimes other animals, like sheep,
visit the yard while the dogs are elsewhere. It is a joy for the dogs to explore
the smells left behind. Sometimes
people are allowed into the yard, but
it is very important to explain to them
how to behave, even before they meet
the dogs. This is even the case with
their photographer, who has been with
them for five years. Every time there is
a new dog, this is discussed with her.
Always when there is a new person,
they need to be shown the hand signal,
how to turn away, and even how to
stand still. The person should not talk
to the dogs at all, and they should listen
to the dog trainer. Always.
Another important time, usually in the
afternoon, is the calming session. This is
where the dogs are together in a social
group, or simply relax and lie down in
the presence of other dogs. This takes
time, and the trainer must be willing to
separate the dogs if necessary.
8
Dogs must be allowed to be dogs—
even if they want to wallow in mud! We
saw a video of them sitting on benches
(or jumping on and off them to play),
wooden sofas, climbing up sand piles
and snow piles, and rolling around. And
of course digging. When one dog digs a
hole, everyone else goes to explore it
afterwards (including the humans!).
Social groups
A social group has been defined as two
or more individuals who interact with
one another, share similar characteristics, and collectively have a sense of
unity. Social groups come in a myriad of
sizes and varieties, and there is normally
a specific role allocation for the group.
For adult trainers, this means that it is
important to accept the characteristics
of each dog, and to remove a dog who
does not allow peaceful companionship. He might need a different group,
or it may not be the right concept for
this dog. Young and older dogs are kept
together, and the day care does not
usually accept dogs younger than 6
months. It is also slightly trickier with
dogs aged 6 to 12 months, but they can
handle it better than puppies. If a dog is
not at his best on a particular day, he is
given the possibility to have e.g. longer
breaks. He is also given plenty of praise.
Dogs should also be shown how to
behave in the group. To take the speed
out of a group, dogs can be put on a
5m leash. It is also important that dogs
who have been in the group for a long
time do not become defensive of their
role. It is important to give the group
new experiences together.
Integrating a new dog
• Usually, once an owner has decided
to place the dog at the day care, this
is an unknown situation for both of
them. This is why both the owner
and the dog need clear instructions,
especially for the transfer part.
Sometimes a social group can change
a bit. A dog may leave, or a new dog
comes in. Integration is the tricky part.
The guidelines that Manja gave must
be adapted to each individual dog.
• At the end of the visit, the trainer
shows the owner and the dog the
indoor area, and the dog leaves the
day care with the owner. The dog
does not stay on the property.
• The reason it is done this way is
that the dog needs to learn that
his owner is coming back. There
are always problems when a dog
doesn’t know what is going on. It’s
very stressful for a dog if he doesn’t
know if the owner is coming back.
Step 2: First visit
Manja started by stressing the importance of always listening to our gut
instinct. “If it doesn’t feel good, just
don’t do it.”
• The new dog visits the daycare for
a couple of hours the 1st 2 weeks.
• The new dog gets to meet the
others one by one, not all of them
the first time.
• A new dog needs 4 to 6 weeks to
settle down on average. This means
for the whole group that no other
dogs come in for about 8 weeks. The
whole group needs to calm down as
well. How do is this achieved?
Step 1
• The new dog and his owner visit
the property together for the first
time. There should not be any other
dogs around, so the dog has its own
time to run around off leash in the
fenced area. They can sniff without
any distractions, the owner and the
dog both get to know the trainer,
and the trainer gets first impressions of the dog and its owner.
• The dog trainer explains the daily
routine, how the dog is transferred
on arrival and departure, and the
owner is asked about allergies and
possible diseases. The trainer talks
about the terms of business and
answers any questions.
• The transfer of the new dog happens
separately.
• The owner needs to leave shortly
after the transfer. Quick and easy.
• The dog should be able to see his
owner leaving. He should not be in
a situation where he goes behind a
bush to sniff, and when he comes
back the owner has disappeared.
• When the owner has left, the
trainer leads the dog to a separate
outdoor compartment where there
are no other dogs, to give him time
to check and sniff around. The trainer observes the dog the whole time.
• The dog is then allowed to meet the
others at the fence. This allows the
trainer to see whether the dog is
shy, or more confident in relation to
other dogs.
• The dog is put on leash. When he is
done exploring, he can gradually be
introduced to the other dogs.
• It is important that one dog trainer handles the dog, while another
trainer is working with the group.
• It is very important to make it safe
by using leashes. This helps to take
the speed out of the situation.
Speed makes dogs nervous and can
lead to wrong reactions.
• Trainers must watch for calming
signals and react accordingly.
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• While the dog is on leash, the trainer
follows the dog, not the other way
round. The dog needs to explore,
whereas the trainer already knows
the property. No leash work should
be done at this time. It doesn’t
matter if the dog pulls a little; he will
be a bit nervous.
• The new dog then gets to meet the
other dogs one by one.
• Breaks are very important! A new
dog needs lots of breaks. Usually
the first one will be after 10 to 15
minutes. It is important to watch for
calming signals. Some dogs can go
for longer, depending on their level
of experience.
• The dog should then be separated
and given a treat search.
• After a longer break of 15 to 30
minutes, the dog is usually ready for
the others again. The dog will make
it clear when he is ready, usually by
standing at the gate or trying to get
in touch with the other dogs.
• This continues until the owner picks
up the dog, usually after about two
hours. This is enough for the first
time. The first visit should not take
any longer and does not include
resting time, as the dog is unable to
relax and settle during the first visit.
Everything is new and excitig.
• There is one goal: having a fun time!
• When the owner picks up the dog,
it is important to tell them not to do
anything for the rest of the day. Just
go home and let the dog sleep until
he gets up again.
Step 3: Second visit
• The new dog visits the day care for
the second time, on the same weekday.
• The transfer is the same.
• The dog stays for two hours.
• The dog gets introduced to other
dogs, and also to those he met
before. Always be aware of calming signals! And remember enough
breaks, speed issues, etc.
• And at the end, the dog has time
to sniff inside as well. No doors are
Manja showed us several videos of a
dog going through this process. It was
fascinating to see how well they adapt.
Summary
• Do not put a dog in any situation
that he is not able to deal with.
• Use the dog’s strengths.
• No pressure: give the dog (and the
other dogs) enough space, time,
and slow steps.
• Never administer punishment.
• Encourage dogs to use all of their
senses.
• There is always one dog trainer per
group. No group is ever left alone.
closed in the indoor area. If the dog
is unsure, it’s always good to have
one or two others with him, so they
can lead him.
• The trainer should be calm and
move slowly. When the dog has
explored everything, he will leave
the indoor area on his own.
• The dog is picked up and taken
home, and will come back a week
later.
Step 4: Third visit
• The transfer is the same, as it always
will be, no matter how long the dog
stays with the group or how experienced he becomes.
is not able to calm down, he gets a
tactile massage.
• The dog is picked up between 2 and
3 PM.
Step 5: Fourth visit
• If everything went well during the
previous visits, the dog goes on the
walk with the others.
• He is kept on leash, as it is not yet
known if he has hunting behaviour.
• Again, he is picked up between 2
and 3 PM.
Step 6: Fifth visit
• This time, the dog stays on the property, but the time is extended.
• The new dog stays the whole day,
provided everything has gone well
during previous visits. No new step
should be taken otherwise.
• The dog stays over nap time and
gets something to chew on. If he
• He will need to rest twice during the
day.
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• Only change one thing at a time.
• Always be aware of calming signals.
• If a dog is not ready for the next
step, keep him at the current phase
a couple more times.
• Have constant groups and the same
daily routine. This makes it predictable for the dogs and helps them
build up friendships.
• Have a calm environment, with less
stimuli from outside.
• Take the time to integrate with the
dogs, and give them mental stimulation.
• Allow the individual characteristics
of the dog to develop.
All this makes a stress-free day care for
the dogs.
Human communication
skills for dog people
Cris Carles, Spain
Cris is a graduate of the Zaragoza Veterinary School in Spain and the
School of Veterinary Medicine in Glasgow, Scotland. She worked for
several years with a development NGO in Latin America in management and human resources. Fifteen years ago, she returned to Europe
and since then has dedicated her life to dogs and the schooling of
canine trainers.
SEITAI
Cris started her fun and fascinating presentation by joking
that she hoped we had learnt all we were going to about
dogs during the weekend, because she was going to talk
about people.
Seitai means a properly ordered body
Naguchi paid a lot of attention to the way a person’s cranium, vertebrae and hips are aligned. Is the axis very straight,
does it lean forwards, does it tend to rotate when the person
moves? The way that line is set means you carry your weight
in a particular way. People are classified as vertical, frontal,
rotatory, lateral or central.
When we deal with dogs, we learn how to talk to them and
understand them and communicate with them. As trainers,
or dog lovers, we want to help the dog but almost always,
there is a person in the life of that dog. We have to get
through the person to get to the dog. It’s not that simple!
How do we help the owner to cooperate? It can feel like
an uphill struggle. Very often, owners do start following
our advice, but they quit half way through. They find that
it’s too difficult, or ineffective, or their family circumstances
take over. If we could learn to communicate better, perhaps
it would help the owner help the dog, and it does; far more
than we can imagine.
Seitai practitioners have a specially modified scale that
is divided into quadrants. When a person stands on it in a
relaxed position, the scale shows where the bodyweight is
being carried, and thus what type of person the patient is.
Every person is born with a certain physical constitution, and
a unique set of characteristics that makes us individual. The
way we walk and the way we move is a part of our personality that we were born with.
Haruchika Noguchi
A Japanese physician, Haruchika Noguchi (1911-1976),
observed during his years of practice that a person’s body
shape and movements tell you a lot about what they are
like, and how they are going to deal with disease. A nervous
person is more likely to get stomach ulcers, or a heart attack,
or perhaps eczema. We express disease in different ways,
which was precisely his point. This approach to health is
called Seitai, and it is practised in Japan today. Perhaps some
of that knowledge can help us in our task of understanding
people.
Frontals
If a person’s axis leans forwards, they tend to carry their
weight on the metatarsal bones, or the balls of the feet.
When they walk, it almost looks like they are falling over.
Their centre of gravity is drawn forwards. These people really look like they’re going somewhere. They are doers with
to-do lists and apparently limitless energy, and they don’t
appreciate lots of talk with no action. Frontals tend to prefer
comfortable clothing that doesn’t require a lot of care.
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Verticals
Laterals
A vertical person has a higher axis, and they tend to put
their weight on their toes. Rather than walking in a fallover manner, they look more like they are hanging from a
thread. They are slightly stiffer and taller. They are information processors and thinkers. They need time to understand
the world and process it in thier own words. They will not
do anything without a good reason. If you give them a list
of things to do, they ask why; they want reasons and data
and hard information. But once they understand that it is the
right thing to do, they will do it. As thinkers, they are scared
of being wrong, and afraid of being unfair. Thus, they need a
lot of time to make sure of their decision before acting. And
if it doesn’t work, they will immediately try something else.
This type of person is easy to identify.
Laterals tend to move more from side to side. They tend to
be very social, love relationships, and have a need to talk.
They may offer superfluous information and jump from one
topic to another midway. They are concerned about what
people think about them, they try to please people, and they
want to be liked. They don’t want to be ignored, or thought
of as vulgar or out of place. Lateral-type people are more
into aesthetics, appreciating art and music and culture more
than all the other types. Beauty is important to them, as is
having fun.
Centrals
Central-type people tend to have a rounder shape. A grandmother who loves to have thirty people round for dinner on
Sunday and gather the family about her is almost certainly
central. She will be the first to take care of the little ones
and notice what somebody needs. If she understands that
the dog needs something, she will do it without question.
She may have made mistakes in the past, because she didn’t
know any better. But now that she knows that little Jack
should have a gluten-free diet, she will never feed him gluten
again!
Rotatories
If you’re going to hit somebody, you come at it with your
whole body—shoulders and hips. This position delivers energy and impulse. Rotatory people are generally impressive
and often quite intimidating. They tend to argue and speak
loudly. They tend to be big, muscular and strong—but it
doesn’t mean they bad people; they can fight for what is fair.
They are often activists,fighting against poverty and inequity.
Rotationals want to win, and they tend to like the best, the
newest and the strongest.
Naguchi stressed that we all have all of the movements to
some degree, but in different proportions. It is that particular combination that makes us an individual, but there is
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walking her dog, who upon seeing a friend forgot all about
the dog. She went straight towards the friend, dragging the
dog behind her. The poor dog started sniffing around and
got its leash tangled in a chair, and the owner never noticed.
If we were to give that lady all the information about the
nose and voremonasal organ, stress levels and brain cells,
she would be totally overwhelmed, not to mention bored.
So how do we approach this owner? To begin with, remember that lateral-type people are interested in relationships,
aesthetics and beauty. You could explain that the dog, when
he is sniffing, is engaging in a social relationship—that not
letting him sniff is like asking her to walk along the street without seeing or hearing or communicating with other people.
Explain that the dog needs to “answer that email,” and that
he needs to read the whole message, not just the header.
That kind of message will work much better for the owner
than overwhelming her with technical information. Since
laterals like a good bit of fun, show her the body language
of the dog and point out how much fun he is having reading all these messages. And since laterals don’t like people
disapproving of them, suggest that jerking or dragging the
dog may not look good to passers-by.
The rotatory owner
For a rotatory-type person, explain that allowing the dog
to sniff and get information about his context and environment will make him more self-assured and confident. For
rotatory people, many of whom live in an us-versus-them
world, having a confident dog who can cope with life is a
great boost. If we explain that not letting the dog sniff will
produce a weakling that is terrified of everything and unable
to make its own decisions, that will get through. Explain that
to get a strong, confident dog, the owner needs to let him
explore and make choices and decisions—and mistakes. All
that information about the brain, neurons etc. is not necessary. The owner just needs to know he will have a clever,
confident dog.
always one that is more predominant. And if we can learn to
look at people and assess which is their main movement, we
will have a good idea of how to approach them. The information we want to share will be the same, but the way we
present it to them will determine on how it reaches them.
Conveying the message
How do we get across, for example, the message that a dog
needs to sniff? How do we get the owner to succeed?
The central owner
With a central owner, they only need to understand what
makes the dog happy. We could explain that just giving the
dog time to sniff is like giving him a whole bag of treats. Upon
understanding this, a central owner is more likely than any of
the other types to take the trouble of getting into the car and
taking the dog somewhere where it can safely be off-lead.
The vertical owner
For a vertical owner, all the technical information—about
how not being able to sniff and being dragged away every
time he wants to stop causes the dog stress, how cortisol
affects the brain, and how the dog cannot urinate properly if
stressed—is important information. For a vertical, not having
that information is like not being able to read. We have to
explain that although the dog is a visual animal, detail comes
from sniffing, and that’s what gives him the confidence to
deal with the world. Give the owner all that information,
and when you get home, search for a good article or link and
send it to them. Whatever you need to send about glands
and pheromones and information about the nose of the dog,
put it together. Give them all that information, and the time
to understand, and they will work it out and do it.
With a central owner, however, not overfeeding the dog is
going to be difficult. But telling her off is not going to help,
because giving is a way of loving. We could perhaps show her
how to train the dog to find a toy. Then she can have fun with
the dog and give him the present of the relationship, without
the need for food. We need to give people something to do
that is within their abilities.
The frontal owner
With a frontal person, we have to give them a mission. For
example, suggest that from the moment the owner opens
the door to take his dog for a walk, he should count to ten
every time the dog stops for a sniff. Slowly. (In most cases,
the dog will be done by then!) Then we get the owner to
The lateral owner
But don’t even try giving all that information to a lateral
owner! Cris described seeing a lateral-type woman recently
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write down how many times the dog sniffed for more than
10 seconds, and to do this for a week. Why they should do
this doesn’t interest them, but they will see that the dog is
much calmer when he gets home after a “smell walk” than
when they were out running. This is practical, and it gets
results that are pleasing to the owner, as well as the dog.
reaction. One asked what
facial expression to adopt,
but Cris said that the body
position normally dictates
what is on the face. One
volunteer clearly felt she
preferred the “lateral”
walk, another the “central.”
Do try this out at home!
No pure types
Remember, however, that there are no pure types. We need
to be patient and to adapt. As hard as it may seem, we need
to empathise with the person, not the dog. We may understand that the dog has every right to do what he’s doing from
his point of view and from ours, but we have to deal with the
client in order to help the dog.
We are all different, but our
unique combination is our
TAHIEKI. It can express itself
more or less easily in different situations and contexts.
If we live in Spain, being
a rotatory wouldn’t raise
an eyebrow. In Norway, it
would go down rather differently. A rotatory person may be
constrained by the culture, education or family, but they will
always be a rotatory. They may not walk like it, but it’s there.
Chris showed us heart-warming video called Empathy, about
a man who is having a seriously bad day. He finds it harder
and harder to cope with others, until someone hands him a
pair of glasses. When he puts them on, suddenly he can see
people’s life situation in clear text—a guy in the pub who has
lost his job, a server struggling with addiction, a teenager
by the side of the road who has run away, a little boy on a
skateboard who just needs someone to care. By the end of
the video, there was not a dry eye in the room.
What kind of dog for your type?
A vertical person is more focused on elegance and beauty
and is more likely to have a little dog that they can take to
the beauty parlour. They may have several, because they
don’t want to be alone. Or they may have a dog like a Golden
Retriever that makes a good “companion.”
Positive reinforcement with owners
It helps to say something nice about the dog, about something the owner has done right. Remember that when
owners come for consultation, they usually feel guilty. But
at least they have taken the step to do something about it.
They want to fix the situation but they don’t know how. We
need to give them hope, and admit that we have had similar
problems at some point.
A rotatory person will not necessarily have a bulky, fighting dog. They might prefer a Jack Russell, because “nobody
messes with a Jack Russell.”
Interestingly, a big central, caring person who works for
harmony in the family is more likely to have a very large,
sturdy dog like a mastiff.
Another thing to remember is never offer unsolicited advice.
If we see a woman rushing down the street pushing a pram
and dragging a puppy, this is not the time to go up to her and
offer advice; we are more likely to get punched in the face.
If we are already interacting with a person, however, we can
always suggest going down to the park to “see how the dog
interacts with others,” whereas in fact we are watching how
the person walks, to get some idea of what type they are.
Frontals are active but practical. They will not take a dog that
requires a lot of maintenance. They are more likely to choose
a guard dog, which is practical and what the owner needs. Or
they may get English Bulldog—something with no trouble.
The dog is that person’s daily care, not mission in life.
Members of the audience shared what type of person they
think they are, what dogs they have, and it was surprising
how well it fit.
The experiment
Cris ended with a cartoon of a family of clearly different
types of individuals, sitting around a living room. We looked
at each type and discussed how we would deal with a family
like that and give each of them something to do that would
fit their type.
Cris got four volunteers to come down from the audience.
She got them to try all five ways of walking, which made for
a lot of hilarity. They all had to walk towards Turid, which
also created plenty of laughter. All had a slightly different
Finally, Cris encouraged us never
to give up, but to keep working on
our communication skills in order to
help dogs, through the owner. After
her excellent presentation, we all
felt at least slightly better able to so.
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